This series of information sheets introduces health literacy, its relevance to public policy, and the ways it can be used to inform the promotion of good health, the prevention and management of communicable and noncommunicable diseases, and the reduction of health inequities. It provides information and links to further resources to assist organisations and governments to incorporate health literacy responses into practice, service delivery systems, and policy. It seeks to governments, politicians and policy makers; academic institutions; public, civil society, and non-governmental organisations; and practitioners; relevant private sectors promoting health and well-being; communities, community-based organisations and social networks; WHO and other UN partners and development organisations.
Useful Resources
The official website for the EU-funded Consortium for Health Policy & Systems Analysis in Africa (CHEPSAA) has just been launched. CHEPSAA is working with universities in Africa and Europe to strengthen teaching, research & policy networking activities for the rapidly emerging field of health policy and systems research and analysis. The new website collates resources and information on health policy and systems research for teachers, researchers, students, policy-makers & decision-makers, including recommended readings selected by experts; open access teaching materials; course & event news and more.
Included in this issue:
* Jonathan D Quick
Essential medicines twenty-five years on: closing the access gap, Health Policy Plan. 2003 18: 1-3.
* Damian Walker
Cost and cost-effectiveness of HIV/AIDS prevention strategies in developing countries: is there an evidence base? Health Policy Plan. 2003 18: 4-17.
* David Ayuku, Wilson Odero, Charles Kaplan, Rene De Bruyn, and Marten De Vries
Social network analysis for health and social interventions among Kenyan scavenging street children, Health Policy Plan. 2003 18: 109-118.
This supplement includes:
* Health sector reform and equity – learning from evidence? Health Policy Plan. 2002 17: 1-4.
* D McIntyre, D Muirhead, and L Gilson Geographic patterns of deprivation in South Africa: informing health equity analyses and public resource allocation strategies Health Policy Plan. 2002 17: 30-39.
* Nzapfurundi Chabikuli, Helen Schneider, Duane Blaauw, Anthony B Zwi, and Ruairí Brugha Quality and equity of private sector care for sexually transmitted diseases in South Africa Health Policy Plan. 2002 17: 40-46.
This Reader aims to support the development of the field of health policy and systems research (HPSR), particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). It provides a particular focus on methodological issues for primary empirical health policy and systems research. More specifically, it aims to support the practice of, and training in, HPSR by: encouraging researchers to value a multidisciplinary approach, recognising its importance in addressing the complexity of health policy and systems challenges; stimulating wider discussion about the field and relevant research questions; demonstrating the breadth of the field in terms of study approaches, disciplinary perspectives, analytical approaches and methods; and highlighting newer or relatively little-used methods and approaches that could be further developed. The Reader is mainly for use by researchers and health system managers, teachers and facilitators involved in HPSR training, and students, from any discipline or background, who are new to the field of HPSR.
Health Research Web provides easily accessible information that will:
* facilitate discussions among stakeholders at country level on strengthening their national health research systems;
* enable donors to better align their efforts to national research priorities
* increase accountability of researchers to national health priorities;
* form of a ‘portal’ for health research systems information in low and middle income countries allowing northern institutions and interested donors to find partners in the South.
In this video from Health Systems Global, Professor Christina Zarowsky and poster presenters from the symposium explain their understanding of and debates on the concept of resilience.
The Health Systems Governance Collaborative is a group of practitioners, policy makers, academics, civil society representatives, agencies, decision-makers and other committed citizens seeking to connect and engage about important health systems governance issues. The Collaborative fosters creative and safe spaces to address health systems governance challenges and promote real impact on the ground. It offers a place to connect with the great variety of stakeholders in health systems governance worldwide, confront ideas, disseminate knowledge and share experiences. The Collaborative encourages people to engage through this online interactive platform, where they can participate in consultations and discussions.
The HST Conference 2016 programme included 90 oral and poster presentations from a wide range of presenters in the South African public health policy, research and implementation field. Presentations range from health governance and health financing to health counselling and electronic medical records. The presentations are available at this site..
This publication is presented as a valuable tool for all health care professionals and anyone who needs to evaluate health care options either for their own families or on behalf of their staff, clients or patients. The first part of the book deals with the size and shape of private and public healthcare services, unfolding health care regulations and a description of how all the participants in the industry fit together. It also offers readers a guide to checking on the health of different medical schemes, as well as understanding the details of benefits and options.